Union, Timbers play to scoreless draw in spirited match

CHESTER — If there’s one thing the Portland Timbers can point to as fueling their ascent up the Western Conference standings, it’s their ability to eke out draws away from home.

They entered PPL Park Saturday night with seven on the season. They left with No. 8.

On a stormy night, there wasn’t a goal in the offing for either the Timbers or the Philadelphia Union as they played out a 0-0 draw, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.

The headlines on the day belong to the goalies on both sides. For the Union, Zac MacMath stopped the four shots that came his way and controlled the penalty area to quell a number of near threats by the Timbers active offense.

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It’s his sixth clean sheet of the season, just two off the MLS lead.

“It was a good tie for us against a good team,” MacMath said. “Portland’s been playing really well this year, and they proved that tonight. The bounces just didn’t go our way.”

His opposite number on the Timbers, Donovan Ricketts, tallied the same number of saves, but he gets the edge in degree of difficulty.

The Jamaican was at a full stretch in the 72nd minute when he got his fingertips to a drive from Conor Casey that looked ticketed for the top corner. He also made a phenomenal save in the 43rd minute, diving across the face of goal to get a hand to Danny Cruz’s drive.

“The save he makes on Conor is world class,” said technical director Rob Vartughian, who was serving as the head coach with John Hackworth suspended. “It felt like to get to that point in the game and we’re obviously in their end pressing, we’re disappointed not to find a way to get one there. But you have to tip your hat to the guy.”

The closest the Union (8-6-7, 31 points) came to a goal, though, had nothing to do with Ricketts. After back-to-back corners in the 87th minute, second-half substitute Leo Fernandes managed to find a way through all the bodies in the box with a volley from 30 yards out. With Ricketts beat, though, the shot skipped off the PPL Park turf and hit the post.

“I definitely thought it was going in,” Fernandes said. “… I’m on top of the box, so I’m just hoping it comes out perfectly so I can strike it and put it on goal.”

Further complicating matters in the matchup of two playoff teams was a 40 minute delay of the second half due to lightning storms in the area. It presented an added wrinkle to an already heated and chippy game.

“You’ve got guys getting their legs worked on,” Vartughian said. “You’re not sure if it’s five minutes, if it’s 20 minutes, if its 30 minutes. It’s something that both teams have to deal with. I think we were just happy with how we came out of the break in the second half.”

Entering play Saturday, no other team had yet drawn five times away from home in MLS. But it’s become a calling card for the Timbers (8-2-10, 34 points), who sit second in the Western Conference. They’re also the first team to 10 draws in MLS this season.

For the Union it’s the first time they’ve been involved in a 0-0 draw in league play since Sept. 1, 2012 against New England. It’s only the third time they’ve been held scoreless this season and first time at PPL Park, the others being a 2-0 loss at New England April 27 and a 1-0 loss to Houston July 6.

After owning less than 40 percent of the possession in the first half, the Union managed to find a foothold in the game after halftime, they had six corner kick opportunities in the second to none before the interval.

Chances were few and far between in a chippy first half. MacMath kicked out to stop Will Johnson from the left channel on a move that started when Diego Valeri dispossessed Brian Carroll in the midfield, illegally in the eyes of the Union bench. MacMath was called to action again four minutes later when right back Jack Jewsbury found space down the wing, but MacMath did well to cling to his post and deny the defender’s sharp-angle drive.

NOTES: Casey received a yellow card in the 43rd minute for a hard foul. It’s his fourth of the season, meaning he’ll serve a one-game suspension next week against Vancouver. … Jack McInerney started and went the first 82 minutes before being withdrawn for Antoine Hoppenot. It’s McInerney’s first game since June 29; he missed three matches while in camp with the U.S. men’s national team.